Adventures in the kitchen and on the Big Green Egg

Jumbo Shrimp with Basil and Mint Pesto

When our friends Graham and Cristen visited last month they came with all kinds of South Georgia goodies – a bag of Vidalia onions, local honey and tons of fresh mint from their garden. I was eager to find a recipe that used lots of fresh mint and after looking around for a while I settled on Jumbo Shrimp with Mint and Basil Pesto from Giada De Laurentiis.

I have to be honest here…it’s been fun to search for recipes from sources other than Gourmet although Epicurious is still my number one choice for online recipes. I’m actually not a huge fan of the Food Network (and I hate their website – not user friendly…I digress) but I do usually like most of Giada’s recipes and this one was great.

You can easily have this dinner on the table in under 20 minutes – especially if you follow my lead and serve it with cous cous. The pesto is very flavorful and the mint and basil complement each other nicely. I did not have time to make it to the bulk bins to purchase pine nuts and was not about to pay $10 for a small amount of them at my normal grocery so I substituted toasted walnuts. The recipe calls for pan sautéing the shrimp but I also think they would be great on the grill. We loved this simple dinner and I enjoyed the leftovers served atop a bed of lettuce for lunch the next day.

I made up the cous cous as I went. I sautéed diced onion and minced garlic in olive oil in a small saucepan and then added in whole wheat cous cous, water and salt. Once the cous cous had absorbed the liquid, I stirred in feta, diced tomatoes and chopped fresh basil and mint.

Combine mint, basil, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. With the machine running, gradually add 1/4 cup of olive oil, until well blended. Transfer pesto to a medium bowl and stir in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Toss shrimp with the extra-virgin olive oil in a large bowl to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss again.

Heat a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in two batches, add the shrimp and sauté until just cooked through, about 3 minutes, careful not to overcook. Toss shrimp pesto to coat.

[…] side, especially for a Monday, but it was calling my name. I had every intention of making this super-healthy shrimp dish from my friend Jen’s fantastic blog, using herbs from my garden, but when I got home tonight, […]